The Second Gate
Casa C.A.S.S.
Contemplative Arts + Sacred Sciences

A living temple where beauty, stillness, and presence reveal what was always already here.

Ritual and ceremony are not additions to life — they are the forgotten language of life itself. Through tea, incense, qigong, sound, and sacred gathering, we remember our place in the great cycle — connected to each other, to nature, and to the cosmos.

This is the gate of community, ceremony, and the Daoist arts. Enter when you are ready.

Silhouette of a person in a pool watching a vibrant sunset over calm water.
Scenic lake with clear blue water, surrounded by mountains under a clear blue sky.
Person in a fur-lined hooded jacket posing near a large waterfall, possibly Godafoss, in a natural landscape with cloudy skies.
Geothermal lagoon with azure blue water surrounded by dark volcanic rocks and moss-covered landscape under a cloudy sky.
Group of people sitting in a living room with large windows showing a scenic outdoor view.
People in a hot spring pool overlooking a scenic ocean view with mountains in the distance.
Two sheep grazing on green grass with a cloudy sky background.
Person sitting on cliff edge by river in canyon
Close-up of a brown horse with a bridle against a blue sky with clouds. The horse is in a field.
Tourists at a rocky shoreline by a large, scenic waterfall.
Northern Lights in night sky
Yoga studio with two mats and bolsters, large windows showing scenic view
outdoor geothermal spa at sunset with people swimming
Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavik, Iceland with garden in foreground
Three women sitting at a table in a restaurant with a large window view of a rural landscape, including fields, hills, and a cloudy sky. There are glass bottles and small vases on the table.
ocean coastline with mountains
Akureyri Church illuminated at night with string lights and stone steps leading up to it, surrounded by trees and greenery.
Group of people horseback riding on a trail through scenic grassy landscape with mountains and a farm building in the background.
Scenic landscape of a waterfall cascading down rocky cliffs with green vegetation, flowing into a river canyon, with a large mountain in the background under a blue sky with wispy clouds.
Infinity pool overlooking the Arctic Ocean with distant mountains and blue sky. Iceland.
Red tent with decorative artwork, carpet, and lights at night.
Person practicing martial arts under wooden torii gate in a garden
Group of women sitting in a circle on the floor in a modern living room, engaged in a tea ceremony with cups and teapot in the center. The room features large windows and plants.
Group of people lying on mats in a wooden interior, possibly participating in a relaxation or meditation session.
Three people smiling indoors in front of a window and kitchen cabinets.
Sweat lodge covered with blankets, drums, and a traditional mat outside; trees in background.
Northern Lights aurora borealis glowing in the dark sky

From Iceland to Ireland, St Bart’s to Kyoto, Jamaica to Marbella- I facilitate connection, devotion, and inspiration with a playful heart through the Daoist arts of energy and Spirit: Qigong, tea and incense ceremony, meditation, yoga, breath-work, acupuncture,
herbal plant medicine, vibrational sound healing, emotional alchemy, and bespoke experiences.

The Living Temple

  • Tea Ceremony

    Cha Dao — The Way of Tea

    Every Sunday · 1–3pm
    $33 per person
    Private residence, Westlake
    Space limited to 8

    Tea is medicine. Tea is meditation. Tea is one of the simplest and most profound ceremonies available to us.

    Cha Dao — the Way of Tea — is the ancient Daoist and Zen art of preparing and sharing tea as a path to inner harmony, presence, and connection. Each gesture, from the pouring of the water to the placement of the cup, becomes an expression of reverence and stillness.

    Dr. Cass studied tea and incense ceremony in Kyoto, Japan — bringing the depth of that training into an intimate weekly gathering at her temple home in the Austin hill country.
    Also learning from SoHan Fan at West China Tea House and Baelyn Elspeth and Shiva Rose of Global Tea Hut.

    Come as you are. Leave in the fragrance of what remains.

    Upcoming dates:· May 3 · June 7

    Save your seat for Tea

  • Daoist Arts Immersive- group

    A ceremonial half-day for groups of 8–10

    Four hours.
    A full arc of Contemplative Medicine™ — held in community.

    The experience moves through four chambers:

    Tea Ceremony — 90 minutes
    Stillness. Presence. The medicine of slowness.

    Group Acupuncture + Vibrational Sound Healing — 60 minutes
    The field opens. The body remembers.

    Qigong — 60 minutes
    Movement as medicine. Breath as transmission.

    Integration — 30 minutes
    Space to land. Space to receive what arrived.

    For larger groups — two waves of 10, with Qigong as the bridge between. Each wave chooses their bookend experience: Tea or Acupuncture + Sound.

    Base investment: $1,000 · Up to 10 people · $125 per person over 10
    Private groups, corporate teams, and organizational bookings welcome.

    Inquire about hosting or book here

  • Somara Collective

    Somara Collective — Weekly Qigong

    Faculty · 3rd Fridays · Zoom · $57/month

    Dr. Cass serves as faculty in the Somara Collective — a somatic community offering weekly practices in Qigong, meditation, breathwork, tonal chanting, and restorative ritual for practitioners and seekers deepening their embodied presence.

    She teaches the third Friday of each month via Zoom.

    Somara Collective is part of the Trauma + Somatics and Attachment + Somatics certification programs — both of which Dr. Cass has completed and wholeheartedly recommends for practitioners seeking to deepen their somatic foundations.

    $500 off certification enrollment with code DRCASS

    Join the collective

  • Reiki Certification

    Levels 1, 2 & Master Teacher

    Transmission from a 7th generation Usui lineage holder.

    Dr. Cass received her Reiki transmission and attunements from Dr. William Morris of the Reiki Center of Los Angeles — her herbal medicine and pulse diagnosis mentor, and at that time Dean and President of AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine, where he also oversaw her doctoral thesis. In 2017 she made the pilgrimage to Mt. Kurama outside Kyoto, Japan — the birthplace of Reiki — and was moved by the gravity and power of this living lineage.

    She holds full Master Teacher authority — meaning she transmits not just the practice but the lineage itself. Students leave not only certified but attuned, activated, and authorized to practice at the level they have received.

    Reiki I + II Intensive Two days · 10am–4pm $432 Private residence, Westlake

    Reiki III — Master Level By inquiry

Upcoming Wellness Residencies:

Couples Swept Away- Negril, Jamaica

July 5-12, 2026

qigong, breathwork, meditation, sound healing for all-inclusive couples wellness retreat.

Club Med Cancun Yucatan

August 8-12, 2026

Yoga and contemplative wellness programming for Club Med guest experience.

Where the land itself becomes the teacher.

Every retreat is designed as a sacred adventure — a journey inward through the portal of an extraordinary place.
Iceland. Ireland. Japan. St. Barth's. Jamaica. Marbella. The Zen monastery. The hill country of Texas.

Each destination chosen not just for its beauty but for what it asks of us — what it opens, what it reveals, what it returns us to.

Sacred Retreats

Each retreat a sacred pilgrimage —carried forward in the bodies of those who were there.

Where We Have Journeyed

Coming Pilgrimages

More journeys are being planned. Join the list to be the first to know.
The GATE is always open.

“May wisdom shine through me. May love grow in me. May strength permeate me that I might arise a helper for humanity and a servant of sacred things.”
-Rudolf Steiner

Exceptional Women Alliance
Co-Facilitator · Corporate & Leadership Retreats · 2025 – Present

Co-facilitating integrative wellness retreats for senior executives, founders, and women leaders — bringing the full depth of Contemplative Medicine™ to those at the highest levels of organizational and creative life.

Inquire About Corporate Retreats →

Cass came out to treat us after the floods in Texas and met us where we were — physically and emotionally. This was my first time receiving acupuncture, and it was deeply healing." — Malcom H.

I was so amazed at the energetic sensations that went through my body as she extended her hands over me. Cass is clearly tuned in to the energetic realm and at the same time grounded." — Carol C.

Ceremonies

Person lying down covered in red, yellow, and white rose petals with flowers around on a soft surface.

Ritual and ceremony remind us of our place in the great cosmic cycle.

The sun and moon and stars have always guided the way. Our ancestors knew this — they moved with nature as their teacher, marking each threshold, each season, each significant turning with devotion and beauty.

We have these rituals for remembrance. To remember who we truly are. To remember how we are woven into nature, into the cosmos, into each other.

The Dao moves through all things and we have never been apart from it.

Blessing Ways · House Blessings · Birthdays · Love Unions · Coming of Age · Intention Setting · Grief and Loss · Transitions

Solstice · Equinox · Full Moons · New Moons · Beltane · Samhain · The 13 Moons · The 4th Night

We may commune with plants, tea, incense, and prayer. We may gather in circles with nature — in tents, teepees, sweatlodge, or temple home.
We may journey solo or in large groups. In stillness or in movement. In all ways, with a heart of devotion.

If you feel called to co-create a ritual, ceremony, or sacred event together — share with me the occasion and any vision you hold. It is an honor to walk beside you.

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“Cass is the secret weapon at our songwriting workshops. She is a healer who has a wide range of super powers. She can help with trauma recovery, pain management, detox, and even covid recovery through her use of integrated arts such as acupuncture, cupping, meridian therapy, sound healing, and chinese medicine…”
Ian Moore

People in a casual indoor setting, one person writing on a vertical surface and another standing nearby smiling.

11th Annual Ian Moore Songwriting Workshop

November 13-16, 2026

Ten years ago, Ian Moore, Jodie, and I created something we didn't fully know we were creating — a gathering where musicians, writers, and seekers come together to make something true.

As a musician myself I participate fully — writing, playing, singing, teaching. I lead breakouts on moving stuck emotions through sound and movement, sing harmony, play keys, and work with the elements, the trees, and the imagination of everyone in the room.

Year after year, people return. That says everything.

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